Our Stamp Den

 Best Offer on the Internet
 Mourning Stamps
Nicknames of famous stamps
TASCO Educational Booklets
TASCO Non-booklet items: advertising covers, cinderellas, approval sheets, etc
 TASCO Album Pages
Ten Low Cost Ways to Start Collecting Stamps
Tips for the Beginner
World Records in Stamps
Write an Article or Tell us About Your Collection

Albums - Glassine Interleaving
Acid_Paper_and_Album_Pages
Buying Stamps - Kiloware and Mixtures
Buying & Using Sheet Protectors
Buying Stamps - New Issues
Great Deals are Often Not What They Seem
 Glues, Gums, and Adhesives
How to Tell a Revenue Usage When You See One
Inventories or Keeping Track
Learning About Your Hobby
Mount Stamps
Not Your Run-of-the-Mill Cancellations
 Problems and a solution
Select An Album
Soaking Stamps
Soaking II
Sort Stamps
Save Time
Tools of the Trade
Tools -Cleaning Up
Tools - Stockbooks, Stockpages and Stockcards
Tag Stamps --Safety
Watermark Stamps 
What Condition Your Condition Is In
Specializing and Specialty Groups
What are and How to --Perforations---
What is My Collection Worth?
 “Unlisted Watermarks” and More
Used Catalogs and Stamp Books

Artcraft FDC's
My Other World
U.S. Revenues - I Love them!
What to Collect

Donations

Other terms for branches of philately:

On To The Fun Page

Mounting Stamps

When it comes to storing and taking care of the stamps one collects, it is always important to remember that they are just like other valuable paper-related products. They must be handled with care---and stored under conditions that will not cause any deterioration. For instance, the Library of Congress is full of books, old documents, newspapers, etc. that were, over the years, handled and stored improperly. Many of these paper items are turning brittle, discoloring, and may not be handled even by the most careful person.

Thus it’s absolutely vital that every stamp you collect be taken care of very carefully. Those of us who collect stamps today are merely "custodians" of material that collectors decades from now will also want to collect. So whether you’re maintaining a collection of early stamps (and covers, too) from the 19th century or purchasing some of the newest issues, the same careful consideration should be given to all of them.

HANDLING YOUR STAMPS AND COVERS…

No matter how many times you wash your hands (and one should always do this before handling philatelic material), there is always a tiny amount of oily residue that adheres to one’s skin---and which can migrate to any kind of paper item. When this oily residue gets onto a stamp or cover, it will stay there forever and, in the long run, promote the deterioration of the item.

STAMPS should be handled with the readily-available "stamp tongs" that come in many sizes and styles. By "styles," we mean the various kinds of tips on the end of the tongs. Some tips are shaped like tiny spades, while other tongs have tips that are shaped to a tiny point at the end. Pick a pair of tongs with which you will be comfortable. Tongs take a little while to get used to…but after a while, every collector using them begins handling stamps like a pro! Remember, though, that the tongs with small points at the end can sometimes puncture the paper of a stamp. Be careful.

COVERS can, of course, also be handled with tongs, too. However, this may prove to be a little awkward…so the accepted way to handle them is to hold them only by the outer edges.

We might also mention that, in lieu of the above, some individuals use very thin rubber gloves which can be purchased in any drug or grocery story. Whichever manner you choose to handle your stamps and covers, be sure to keep in mind the oily residue that resides on your hands at all times.